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A North East flooring firm is bringing in robotic technology to help drive forward growth after securing a six-figure investment.
Woodland Floors, based in Shildon, County Durham, manufactures around 80,000 square metres of engineered oak flooring every year for retailers, installers and property design firms right across the UK. The company’s products have been used in office projects for household names including Netflix, the London School of Economics and the BBC, as well as by domestic and hospitality sectors.
Woodland Floors was set up in 2019 by directors Tom Flanagan and Paul Wilson, who had previously worked together in the flooring sector for more than 15 years. The management team has now worked with regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers to bring in the £100,000 investment from the North East Small Loan Fund Supported by The European Regional Development Fund. The company is set to buy new equipment, including a robotic filling machine which scans raw wood for knotholes and then fills them.
Bosses said the investment will also fund new product development work, as well as support the recent opening of a new pre-finishing facility near its main base, which has seen the company bring colouring work in-house. The company operates a sawmill in Ukraine, through which it obtains and processes European Oak on the continent, and it also offer products featuring native British species, including English Oak and Scottish Douglas Firm, as well as flooring made from American Black Walnut.
Co-founder Mr Wilson said: “We have a highly-skilled team and are making these equipment investments to enable them to focus on using their expertise where it’s needed most, rather than spending time on the mundane but essential parts of the manufacturing process. This in turn will allow us to operate our production facilities in faster, more efficient and more streamlined ways, which helps us to stay ahead of the competition, improve profitability and grow the business in a sustainable way.
“The NEL team showed a really grounded approach to investing in our growth plans, taking the time to understand our business plan and working to support us right through the application process.”
Jonathan Armitage, investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, added: “The Woodland Floors team creates desirable products from high-quality materials, and has a robust business plan in place to grow the business in a controlled manner over the medium-to-long term.”
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